Wish they would open this up nationwide. Wife is looking at the PHEV version. https://insideevs.com/2019-kia-niro-ev-us-website/
Hopefully that will happen sooner than later. I'll definitely try to get more info from the Kia communication team, but they wouldn't even tell me that this was coming to the US just a few days ago. Great to learn it will arrive this year, though, even if it's only in limited numbers.
That is great new! I recently traded my 2016 Kia Sorento in on a Honda Clarity. I test drove everything in its price range I could, and I was close to pulling the trigger on the Kia Niro PHEV (I didn't because Honda dealers were dealing, the Kia was hard to find and when you did they were at or near sticker so with the larger rebate the Honda was cheaper with almost double the range). It felt in many ways like a smaller Sorento, with better gas mileage (and given Kia's reliability rep these days, likely better reliability than the bad apple Sorento I got), thus keeping almost all I liked about the Sorento while dropping what I didn't. Well, since getting the Clarity, I'm getting addicted to this driving on electricity thing. Once I buy a house (1-2 years), I will probably be in the market for an electric car in addition to my Clarity, and with the 250mi range (fixing the issue with the PHEV compared to the way I went), and all the Niro goodness, it will probably be high on my list.
https://cleantechnica.com/page/3/ Now on sale on Korea, as planned. Range for 60+kw version downgraded. US launch pushed to q1 of 2019. One smile and two frowns if that’s all true (info on their US website hasn’t changed). Korean website: http://www.kia.com/kr/vehicles/niro-ev/features.html
I'm not sure the "downgrade" of range is anything to really worry about. The 385km range based on the Korean website is 239mi (according to Google), and even at 236 (according to the article) isn't that far off. It is still in the general neighborhood of the the standard Tesla Model 3, the Chevy Bolt or the new upgraded version of the Leaf that is coming soon. Also, if the Korean and EPA standards are reached a little differently, the EPA ratings could still be near 250 as originally reported (or with minor changes they may be able to add the 10-15mi). Heck, even if it stays that way, 10-15mi off the original reporting isn't too bad. For me, waiting until 2019 isn't a problem, though I have a couple years before I buy a BEV, so YMMV. Between this, the Hyundai Kona, and the lower range (but less expensive) Ioniq EV, Hyundai/Kia will have some nice offerings in the EV world.
